Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko.

Chapter One: Visitors

We had made a vow to protect our world from the evil that corrupts it. We will fight until the very end, for as long as we need to. We will win this fight. We will create a world without danger.

No matter what the cost.

oOoOoOo

"Now you have to place four cards down," Jeremie said as he pointed to the card he had placed on the small pile.

"I think I'm starting to get this," Aelita stated as she placed down her cards, one at a time.

She had placed her third card down when an alarm went off. Jeremie quickly climbed off the bed, his eyes narrowing. He didn't even bother to look at the computer, merely shutting the alarm off. He already knew what it meant.

"XANA's activated another tower," he announced, shaking his head.

"I'll call Yumi," Aelita said, taking out her pink cell phone.

The two of them left the room to inform their friends, a few rooms away. Jeremie opened the door and looked inside. Ulrich was playing a video game and Odd was already asleep.

"Yeah, Jeremie?" Ulrich asked, pausing his game and looking up at him.

"Wake up Odd. XANA's activated a tower."

He nodded and stood up.

It wasn't too difficult getting out of the school, despite the fact that it was almost past curfew. There was only one teacher that patrolled the halls of the dorm building, and that was Jim. He wasn't the best at catching them in the act of sneaking away, at least not most of the time. This was one of those times. The five children all met each other in the forest without any incident.

"Anything happen at the school?" Yumi asked as they opened the sewer.

Jeremie shook his head. "Nothing, as far as I know. I don't want to give him time to do anything, though."

"Let's hurry."

They all climbed into the sewers, one of the passageways to the old, abandoned factory in the middle of a small lake. At night, the area looked almost menacing, the way the building loomed above them, untold secrets hidden within. The children pressed on, though, oblivious to how the place looked, their mission the thing on their minds for the moment.

They entered the large room on the main floor, taking the quickest way to the elevator; ropes. They entered the old lift and one of them pressed the button, lowering them to the rooms below. At the first stop, where they entered an access code, Jeremie was the only one to step out. The others took the machine to the next room down, leaving the fair-haired boy alone with the supercomputer. He sat down at the chair, which rotated around the room and to the screens. He placed the headphone on his ear and adjusted the microphone.

"I'll send two of you at a time," he told the others.

"I'll go first, with Aelita," he heard Yumi's voice offer.

"Okay. Enter the scanners."

Down in the scanner room, the two girls did as they were told.

"Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Aelita." Jeremie's voice announced, each of the scanners closing at the command.

"Scanner, Yumi."

The girl closed her eyes as she felt the familiar floating sensation.

"Scanner, Aelita."

She also shut her eyes tight, the light surrounding her almost blinding as she began to float.

"Virtualization."

At the same time a gush of wind hit the two of them. Their bodies slipped away from them, stored in the computer's data bank. Their minds melded with the digital vessels that awaited them. All sensations but sight and hearing were lost to the two girls, leaving an empty vacuum.

From a few feet off the ground, they appeared, first their grid, then the bodies. After dropping to the ground, they hear Jeremie's voice again.

"Odd, Ulrich, your turn."

A few seconds later, they were joined by the two boys.

"You should be able to see the tower from where you are," Jeremie told them.

"I see it," Aelita announced, pointing. Through the mist of the mountain sector, they could see the distant tower.

"I'll send you your vehicles."

A second later, the overwing, overbike, and overboard virtualized before them. They all jumped on their respective vehicles, Aelita sharing with Yumi's, and they all took off toward the tower.

"XANA hasn't attacked for awhile. I was starting to think he gave up," Odd remarked as they sped along.

"I wish," Ulrich smirked.

"You never know."

They continued for a little ways, before Jeremie's voice was heard. "Hmm…."

"What is it?" Yumi asked. "XANA send any monsters?"

"No. None," the boy responded. "That's what's worrying me, though. You're already over halfway there, and nothing."

"Maybe I'm right, then!" Odd exclaimed, grinning. "I know! XANA's decided to throw us a victory party, and the activated tower was the invitation!" He began to laugh.

"Very funny, Odd. I'm serious! What if this is a trap?"

"Don't worry, Jeremie," Ulrich said. "I can see the tower up ahead. There aren't any monsters that I see."

"There's none on my screen, either. So strange…"

Aelita watched as they approached the tower. As they came closer, she realized something very wrong. "Jeremie? The tower…"

The others took a closer look and saw what was wrong too.

"Wait- What?" Odd frowned as they slowed down, stopping a few meters away from the tower. "That's weird!"

"What?" Jeremie's voice sounded. "What's going on?"

"The tower… I don't think it was activated by XANA…" Aelita told him.

"What do you mean?"

"It's glowing black, rather than red," Ulrich explained with a confused air.

Jeremie frowned and typed in a few commands. After a few moments, his frown deepened. "The computer can't identify what activated it. Strange…. How could anybody hack into-" He stopped when he hear the sounds of the scanners opening below him. "G-Guys? Are you still there?"

"Yeah," Yumi responded. "What's the matter?"

"I'm not sure… Aeltia. Hurry up and deactivate the tower."

"Okay."

Jeremie's eyes widened as he heard the sounds of the elevator rising. He glanced around for something that could be used as a weapon, but found nothing. He heard the elevator stop at his level and gripped the microphone tightly. "Hurry, Aelita! Deactivate the tower!"

"Jeez, Jeremie, what's the matter?" Odd's voice asked.

"No!" he heard faint, but familiar voices yell from within the elevator. "Don't deactivate the tower!" "Please!" "Let us in!"

"Wait, Aelita, stop!" Jeremie told the girl.

Aelita's hand hovered over the screen. She frowned in confusion. "What's going on, Jeremie?" She didn't hear a response. There was only silence. "Jeremie? Jeremie! Answer me!"

Back in the computer room, Jeremie had stepped away from the computer. He approached the elevator door slowly, listening to the voices yell from the other side.

"Let us in!" "We don't know the access code!" "Keep the tower activated!"

"Guys?" the boy's eyes widened as his hand reached up for the button.

"Jeremie!" Aelita called from inside the tower.

The boy pressed the button, allowing the doors to open. The machine let out a hiss as the wheel spun around, unlocking and sliding open. The boy's eyes widened as he saw his friends looking back at him. They weren't the ones he knew, though. There was something different about them. His mind seemed to take a picture of this moment, which seemed to last eternity in a matter of seconds.

The wounds the carried… all of their clothes were ripped. Odd had a large, bleeding gash on the side of his face. Ulrich was favoring his left leg, the pants stained a dark red. Yumi held on to her side and blood could be seen seeping through. Those were only the biggest on each of them. They had bruises and other small cuts everywhere. They seemed dead tired.

The last thing he noticed is what made his heart feel cold. It was their eyes. In them, he could see their deadened souls. They had seen horrors that nothing should ever deserve to see.

Inside the tower, Aelita pressed her hand upon the screen, worrying for Jeremie's life as she deactivated whatever danger caused his silence.

The eternity had passed and it was over. They all gasped their first breath since the doors opened as the three newcomers began to disappear from this world.

"No! It can't end this way!" Yumi shouted, staring at her disappearing hands in shock. She began to clutch at her hair, pulling at it and sobbing.

"I knew it. We're gonna die…" Odd sighed, lowering his head in uncharacteristic defeat and slumping to the floor.

The small boy watched all this in shock. These weren't the same people he knew… they had been changed by untold horrors. Ulrich quickly stepped up to him and gripped his shoulders.

"Jeremie!" he exclaimed, shaking him slightly. Jeremie's eyes were wide and uncomprehending as he spoke, before the three of them disappeared.

The boy stood there, staring at nothing with his wide eyes, before he gradually became aware of a sound coming from behind him. He quickly turned back around and ran to the computer, realizing that it was Aelita calling him from the headphones.

"Jeremie! Please! Answer me!"

"I'm right here, Aelita," he said quickly, trying to comfort her. "Sorry… XANA's attacks are getting… strange."

There was a sigh of great relief before she spoke again. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he lied.

"So it really was XANA?" Yumi asked.

Jeremie sighed and held his head in his hands, feeling a bit drained after that shocking moment. "Why don't we all head back? I'm tired." He began to type in the commands to materialize his friends.

OoOoO

A few days later…

Jeremie scrolled through various documents that had been written by Franz Hopper, his tired eyes scanning through the names, not truly reading but waiting for something to catch his attention. His eyelids dropped and his head tilted in his hand before he jolted it back up, continuing to scroll through the thousands of icons. A yawn forced his way through his throat and he shut his eyes as they watered slightly. It felt so good to have his eyes closed that he never wanted to open them again, but he forced himself to.

He bit his upper lip tightly and rubbed his temples in a vain attempt to help keep himself awake. He dropped his arms back down to his desk, not paying attention exactly where they dropped. The result of this was his right elbow hitting his keyboard and inadvertently opening one of the documents he had highlighted. He was honestly too tired to feel any bit of frustration over this, and instead allowed his curiosity to lead him.

He read the name at the top of the screen and did a double-take, waking up quickly. His eyes widened and excitement welled up inside him. He began reading attentively, his need for rest pushed to the back of his mind.

OoOoO

"Jeez, Jeremie," Yumi frowned, leaning down in front of the boy's face. "You're eyes are so puffy! What were you doing last night?"

Jeremie resisted the sudden urge to yawn as he backed away from her a bit. "Studying." Of course, when he said that, they knew what he really meant.

Aelita stepped next to him, a worried expression on her face. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "You shouldn't deprive yourself of sleep all the time. I'm worried…"

"Soon, none of us will have to worry about anything," Jeremie said, a grin spreading on his lips.

The other's eyes widened and they stopped walking. Odd leaned closer to him so he didn't have to speak so loud. "You mean, you found a way to defeat XANA?"

The boy shook his head. "Well, not really. More like I found a way to find a way." They all frowned, wondering what he meant. "I'll tell you later," he said and continued on his way to class. As soon as he got away from the group, he let out a wide yawn before they could catch up to him.

Not only did I find a way to find a way, but I can find out what happened that night….

OoOoO

Author's Note

Though this isn't the first Code Lyoko story I've written, it's the first I got courage enough to put up. There's just something about these kind of stories that gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. You'll know what I mean in the next chapter. You probably already know what I mean anyway.